"Tony Hawk" "Wiggles" and "Thomas" to leave Six Flags?

[Double0Kevin]

So I was recently told by and reliable source that Six Flags will be opening next year with a lot of new names on popular attractions. From what I was told, Thomas the Tank Engine, Wiggles, and Tony Hawk will be dropped from all attractions in all SF parks in 2011.

 

Anyone heard similar stories?

Edited December 21, 2010 by robbalvey

[robbalvey]

^ Rumblings, yes, but nothing comfirmed. I also have a feeling this is why that on the SFMM video, they list the Percy coaster as they "Wile W. Coyote Coaster" instead of using the Thomas name. Let's be honest here...Thomas Town is always empty...they have a kids area RIGHT NEXT DOOR. Does it make ANY sense to pay for the license on TWO kids areas when clearly one is enough.

 

--Robb

[angryemobeaver]

I haven't heard this rumor, but Robb makes a good point. I kinda hope it's true. Tony Hawk's Big Spin at SFSTL is so out of place. I'd love for it to have some type of theme that'd match that area of the park. Same for all the other THBS's. Wiggles and Thomas probably are going to be more of a loss since it does attract kids, but changing everything to Looney Toons would be the best solution since they are always going to be known. I'm actually kinda excited to see what happens!

[SoCalCoasters]

Well...SFDK would have quite the Re-Theme for their Thomas Town on their hands if that's true...although, for TH's BS, all they would need to do is change the plastic figure at the top of the lift ! Well, that and the signs of course...

[Double0Kevin]

I haven't heard this rumor, but Robb makes a good point. I kinda hope it's true. Tony Hawk's Big Spin at SFSTL is so out of place. I'd love for it to have some type of theme that'd match that area of the park. Same for all the other THBS's. Wiggles and Thomas probably are going to be more of a loss since it does attract kids, but changing everything to Looney Toons would be the best solution since they are always going to be known. I'm actually kinda excited to see what happens!

 

Yeah, I think the only THBS that kinda fits in would be SFFT. It definitley doesn't fit in SFDK. I have a feeling all the Tony Hawks will just be called "Big Spin" and mostly left how they are. With Thomas and Wiggles I could see it being harder. Most parks already have a Looney Tunes area. In SFMM's case Thomas would easily assimilate into Bugs Bunny World and with some adjustments SFDK could get Thomas into Looney Tunes Seaport (though the two flat rides are duplicates of ridea already in LTS). I'm curious if they will switch them to existing brands or just make them into generic kinda areas... Train Town anyone?

[strwrse1]

Wow, if that's the case, SFA has a lot of work to do. They just opened Thomas Town & the train has Thomas for the engine. They also have a station with all the replica engines. Will be interesting.

[COASTAH FREAK]

I 100% agree with Robb. Probably wasn't a smart move on their part to begin with since now they're going to have to waste money on retheming the area. Hopefully it won't come out of the Superman/Green Lantern theming budget (just talking about SFMM, obviously). I don't know what it will be like for other parks, but those are some major institutions in the Six Flags parks as a whole. Maybe the money saved in licensing fees will balance out the cost of retheming? Does anybody know just how much those fees are?

[Jerrykoala2112]

Could this be because of the new CEO of Six Flags? He took some deep budget cuts at SFGAm during the beginning of July... (Canceling fireworks, shortening hours on any day past 10 o'clock to back to 10, etc..) Maybe they don't want to pay for the rights anymore?

 

To be honest, I have no clue how they would re-theme Wiggles World. Red World? I mean, I don't know... If Wiggles isn't even on anymore (I wouldn't know, don't watch it ) then I guess it makes sense to take it out. But SFGAm's Wiggles World was always crowded and had lines for everything from June-October... Not to mention how many people watch the show at the area...

[SoCalCoasters]

Train Town anyone?

 

That name is already been taken, by the perfect place for a Northern California TPR takeover! The Sonoma Train Town....there's even a kiddie credit!

http://www.traintown.com/rides.htm

[Double0Kevin]

Train Town anyone?

 

That name is already been taken, by the perfect place for a Northern California TPR takeover! The Sonoma Train Town....there's even a kiddie credit!

http://www.traintown.com/rides.htm

 

 

Haha, Yeah I'm aware. I live about 30mins from there. Grew up going to that place.

 

I 100% agree with Robb. Probably wasn't a smart move on their part to begin with since now they're going to have to waste money on retheming the area. Hopefully it won't come out of the Superman/Green Lantern theming budget (just talking about SFMM, obviously). I don't know what it will be like for other parks, but those are some major institutions in the Six Flags parks as a whole.

 

I don't think they will tap into those budgets. Those are usually set for their intended projects and that money can't be used for other stuff. You bringing up DC kinda gives me an idea. Wouldn't it be cool to have a DC themed kids area? I mean that's the age when kids start to get excited about superheroes and comics. I know I'm dreaming, but it would be a great idea for parks to pursue. I can just see a dumbo style ride themed to Wonder Woman with clear cars shaped like jets called "Wonder Woman's Invisible Jet." Maybe a little coaster called... wait for it... "Little Flash." I may have stole that one.

[thrillrider]

I am not sure what they are spending on the thomas license, but re-doing all the thomas towns will not be cheap. The wiggles and Tony Hawk could be re done for a lot less.

 

Does wiggles even bring in that much of a crowd?

 

I know that my daughter will be bummed out if thomas leaves.

[Airtime&Gravity]

 

To be honest, I have no clue how they would re-theme Wiggles World. Red World? I mean, I don't know... If Wiggles isn't even on anymore (I wouldn't know, don't watch it ) then I guess it makes sense to take it out. But SFGAm's Wiggles World was always crowded and had lines for everything from June-October... Not to mention how many people watch the show at the area...

 

SFGAM's Wiggle's World probably won't be very hard to retheme with it being in County Fair. The brightly colored rides fit, and the area doesn't have much theming in the first place. Some minor changes will have to be made, but the area will probably look very similar next season. Then again, I say County Fair, minus Eagle, Revolution, and MagiQuest, should be demolished and rebuilt from the ground up as the area is a mess, and I hope Six Flags focuses on it in the future.

 

The other Wiggle's World's and Thomas Towns might be more difficult though, and it'll be interesting to see what happens.

[fatdaddy]

That really sucks, my son just discovered Thomas and loves the ride. Really I can't think they would take out all the Thomas Towns. The one at SFMM sucks, but others are better done. It seems like it would cost a lot to retheme all those rides.

 

As far as the Wiggles, my kids never liked them anyway and it seems like their toys are always on clearance at Toys r Us.

[John Knotts]

Never liked all the Mark Shapiro faux-family crap anyway, good riddance if it's true! Whenever he talked about family attractions it always felt so forced and pretentious. I'd like to see Six Flags add some really nice family attractions that the whole family can enjoy together from 2 thru 15 years old. There's a difference between "family" and "kiddie". When these decisions are made more attention should be paid to variety. Six Flags (especially SFMM ) seems to leap from kiddie to thrill seeker, with little in between.

[Double0Kevin]

Six Flags (especially SFMM ) seems to leap from kiddie to thrill seeker, with little in between.

 

Agreed. That has always been an issue for SFMM and it seems unlikely they will ever build to the level of the other SoCal parks until they solve that issue. SFMM seems to miss the mark when it comes to even no brainer family rides. A 4D Motion Theater? Simple ride really and enjoyable for most all ages (and has the added value of being able to update to new films every couple of years).

 

But back on topic. I agree that the most expensive re-theme will be Thomas as they were the most heavily themed of the bunch. Six Flags must be saving enough on loosing the license to justify the re-theme, or maybe they will just tear them out to save on maintenance (Thomas needs a lot) and operating costs. Those gift shops never were very profitable either.

[YoshiFan]

I wonder if for Great Adventure they are going to theme the Wiggles World rides back to the Looney Tunes theme many of them had before they were changed to a Wiggles theme.

 

Never liked all the Mark Shapiro faux-family crap anyway, good riddance if it's true! Whenever he talked about family attractions it always felt so forced and pretentious. I'd like to see Six Flags add some really nice family attractions that the whole family can enjoy together from 2 thru 15 years old. There's a difference between "family" and "kiddie". When these decisions are made more attention should be paid to variety. Six Flags (especially SFMM ) seems to leap from kiddie to thrill seeker, with little in between.

 

Agreed 100%, lots of parks in the chain could use family rides that everyone can enjoy, not kiddie rides (especially in parks like Great Adventure that already had 3 kiddie ride areas and hardly any rides anyone in the family can ride together that isn't a coaster). Thomas Town at SFMM is a perfect example. They got rid of the antique cars which to me seems like the definition of a family ride since it is something anyone can ride and they put some kiddie rides in its spot.

[nrs2420]

What about Evel Knievel at SFSTL? Any word on a possible retheming?

[jps294]

^ I also thought of that to!!

 

The Wiggle's would be a great miss at Fiesta Texas, there is always a crowd in there singing, dancing no matter how old you were. If Fiesta Texas did retheme it, they need rethemed the Superman area (Superman, The Twister, and Whirligig) first also. They do not fit in the Spassburg (German) section.

 

I also heard that they are getting rid of Papa Johns!

[Ed Farmer]

Great news! I thought it was short-sighted to theme anything significant after Tony Hawk because that name just doesn't mean anything to a good portion of customers, and to those that it does (teens), modern attention spans did their thing and forgot about him. Not even yesterdays- he's last decades news.

 

Wiggles is another brand that wasn't going to last, just as Teletubbies didn't. For Six Flags, the good thing about Wiggles is that now they can shout Expansion! and simply switch a few signs around. I'd guess that this was probably a given when the whole Wiggles World idea was conceived.

 

Thomas is the one that was proven to last with time, but it was never Sesame Street. I wish the company would just push Looney Toons with even half the effort they did these flavor of the millisecond brands, or like Cedar Fair does Peanuts.

[BeemerBoy]

Great news! I thought it was short-sighted to theme anything significant after Tony Hawk because that name just doesn't mean anything to a good portion of customers, and to those that it does (teens), modern attention spans did their thing and forgot about him. Not even yesterdays- he's last decades news.

I somewhat disagree. In fact, I thought the Tony Hawk licensing was one of the better choices SF made. While the Shaun Whites and Travis Pastranas became household names of extreme sports after Hawk's competitive days passed him by, he still remains a very significant name in the industry. I mean, c'mon, he's the Michael Jordan of his sport. Basketball = Jordan. Hockey = Gretzky. Skateboarding = Hawk. Some things are just synonymous. And for what it's worth, although I don't dig spinning coasters, I thought the theming and execution behind the Tony Hawk spins made perfect sense.

 

With that said, I do understand what you're getting at regarding attention spans. Perhaps going after the Shaun White license (who actually is sponsored by Birdhouse - Hawk's company) would make better sense in terms of current name relevance, but saying Hawk is "last decades news" might be a bit much.

[robbalvey]

The Tony Hawk name still sells millions of copies of video games each year. I don't think he's last decade's news.

[Sir Clinksalot]

Well, maybe a DC Kids area isn't so out of the question since the rollerskater at SFMM is being named Little Flash?

[COASTAH FREAK]

If we're going to get into what it should be rethemed as, I vote Rocko's modern life.

[Sir Clinksalot]

This is the re-theme for the Thomas train:

[Double0Kevin]

^Haha, that would be awesome. DC is really a fantastic idea for a themed area, It's possible to mix Kiddie, Family, and Thrill all together. Why don't we see that more often? Why does it always have to be a designated Kiddie area? Why not have a land with a little of everything?

 

The Tony Hawk name still sells millions of copies of video games each year. I don't think he's last decade's news.

 

I agree, not to mention all the clothing I see young kids wearing with his name all over it. He's definitely still relevant. He has just moved from competitor to brand.